Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Old Pizazz

So, after spending a disproportionate amount of time on FreeRice, I have to say that the vocab in the higher levels aren't necessarily always fair. Well, depending on how you choose to view the task. If it's a general English vocab test, it fails because of the historicity and obliquity of some of its words.

Words like animalcule and camelopard are only words if you've studied historical science/biology. Otherwise, there would be no reason to know (or use!) the words. Animalcules were first proposed with the discovery of microbiology to describe single cells. Camelopards are similarly archaisms for giraffes, what british taxonomists first thought must have been a hybrid between camels and leopards. The silly sods.

I don't approve of the use of those words (even though they were kinda my freebies to the next level), because they aren't an accurate test of general English vocabulary. Instead, it became a test of education -- who was a biologist, and who wasn't? Even historical words of British culture are a bit of a grey area. Yes, there is not such thing as language without context, and therefore any special vocabulary one learns must necessarily be registered in a specific field. The question is then how broad a field is it? Something like nosegay, what we now call bouquets, is a bit iffy.

Shakespearian words, on the other hand, I would be more lenient towards, if only because it's a "fair" education -- anyone who's successfully completed high school would have read and studied at least three Shakespeare plays, if not five. And words I totally approve of are "standard" in the sense that they weren't misappropriated names, like tintinnabulation, sesquipedalian, aphonic.

On the other hand, and this is something I can appreciate even if I don't approve, is that their one-word definition choices were sometimes a bit too limiting. Yes, a Paladin could be defined as a "champion", but I feel a closer cognate would be "knight". The emphasis is on the regality and chivalry rather than the victory. Similarly, I'd associate dusky more with a description of ambient lighting than skin pigmentation (ie swarthy). But it's usually difficult to find a one-word equivalent for the rarer words. Even though some of their options have been two or three words, most choices are singletons. So that point's a bit hard to appease.

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About Me

Based in the "true" capital of Canada, I muse about language and literature, occasionally play piano, and regard the public warily. On my spare time, I'll also work on my thesis, and combat ignorance via private tutoring.

for stalking purposes

Glossary

Below is an incomplete list of words I might use without prior explanation:

Anime (アニメ), n.Curious case of re-borrowed vocabulary; original English "animation" shortened to "anime" in Japanese, and lent again into English to denote Japanese cartoons and animated shows.Frell, intj.Substitute for a ruder word of similar sound. "Frell" was acquired from Australia's hit sci-fi series, Farscape. Personally, I found this to be a brilliant alternative of television censorship.HS, n.High School (for me, that would have been gr. 9-13, or ages 14-18).

Japanesque, adj.Resembling Japanese style or sentiment without necessarily being authentically Japanese. According to the OED, this word has been around since 1883 (and seems to have died around the same time).

Manga (漫画), n. Literally, "rambling picture". OED defines it as a Japanese genre of [still] cartoons and comic books.OATUS, adv. (rare)"On a totally unrelated subject". A personal texting innovation by the author of this blog.

PIE (Proto-Indo-European), n.The hypothetical reconstructed language, from which all modern European and Indian languages developed.

Scanlation, n.Blend between "scan" and "translation". Denotes the (legally questionable) practice and production of scanning manga, and translating it online for no cost. Among scanlators, there seems to be a common etiquette of removing scanlations of officially liscenced works in North America.Sesqui-, prefix"One and a half" e.g.:sesquicentury = 150 yearssesquicentimeter = 1.5 cmsesquipedalian = long-worded (lit. 1.5 feet)

SLA (Second Language Acquisition), n.The study of learning second languages (ie, any language in addition to the one already spoken by the learner).

Wapanese, n.A blend between "wannabe" and "Japanese", derogatorily used towards caucasian males who place greater importance/interest in Japanese products and culture than their own. More commonly, the avid watcher of Japanese anime, and reader of Japanese manga.